Blame the Tequila
by Kanzen 712
Summary: Butler Yugi Motou had enough of trying to keep together his Seto Kaiba's public and private life together, so when he switches jobs he doesn't know he is going to work for Kaiba's arch-rival. YGO/Batman fusion.
1. 1: Introductions

**Title: **Blame the Tequila

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh_ nor anything associated with _Batman_ nor anything recognizable. That should cover all the bases.

**Warnings:** Loosely based off of _Batman,_ in general, which means the villain names and looks are used, but they are redefined in this. Why? Because, if you look at all the Batman movies and such they always changed according to the director/animator. Woot, creative license of fan works. **_Beware of language! This is also Slash._**

**Summary:** Yugi Motou cringed when his employer donned the Kevlar suit and gained a sidekick, he figured that he should have retired when said employer told him that he wanted to make a difference in the city of Domino by becoming a vigilante. Batman/YGO fusion

**Pairings:** Yami/Yugi, implied Seto/Joey, eventual Bakura/Ryou

* * *

Twenty-five-year-old Yugi Motou, trained to be a loyal retainer and personal assistant to the Seto Kaiba since the boy was born birth, whimpered as he popped two extra strength aspirin for his migraine and than downed a glass of water. The reason for his migraine was easy to see, since the event was being broadcasted on the eleven o'clock news. Some part of his mind, the part that was in denial, had to admit that the 42" LCD television screen displayed the property damage with crystal clarity and he did feel like he was right on the street with the people running away instead of being in the lavish study at Kaiba Manor on the outskirts of Domino City. "I don't get paid enough for this." He muttered to himself as he sat down on the couch, refusing to look away from the television screen. This had become a nightly ritual for him since his employer, Seto Kaiba, had a life changing experience the year before that resulted in the billionaire's new nighttime hobby of patrolling the city and to fight crime since the system was not doing it's job or was corrupt.

Some men collected cars, books, trophy wives, or they did something constructive! Hell, Yugi would not have minded if Kaiba took up extreme sports or sports in general. No, the poor retainer ended up with the bored billionaire that donned white Kevlar and made dramatic entrances into issues with his sidekick. It had to have been karma that landed him in this inherited job.

On one side, Yugi understood that what Kaiba was doing was noble but it was completely odd for a self-centered man that had little to no social life outside of formal parties and the personality of a piece of cold rock. His means of going about changing things worried Yugi greatly because that meant Yugi had a few more duties to handle on his already overflowing schedule. "I need a new job." He muttered to himself, covering his face with his hands as the reporter's commentary continued in the background. "Or a long vacation on a tropical island, I think I have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life." He added, moving his hands so that he was rubbing his throbbing temples.

Of course he had enough money, the salary he was paid was generous and he rarely touched it. Not to forget the accounts he inherited from his father and grandfather… he would be fine! The only trouble in Yugi's way to freedom was the fact he wasn't sure he could leave, since he had been working for the Kaiba family for so long and it was hard to break habits that his father had forced on to him. "I'll give it another month. After that…" he trailed off, letting his hands fall from his face so he could lean forward and pick up the remote from the coffee table and turn the television off.

With a resigned sigh, the retainer went to prepare a first aide kit for their arrival.

* * *

While Yugi was in the middle of his internal debate about leaving his stressful situation, a meeting was taking place in a rather nice penthouse apartment in the middle of Domino City. The owner of the penthouse was the infamous clothes designer Mai Kujaku, who was known by a rare few as the Queen Thief Catwoman, and the meeting had been called in response to a certain Kevlar wearing vigilante who had been causing them troubles. "Nice place, full of shiny and expensive toys." A twenty-year-old blond in tight black jeans and a purple tank top remarked as he poked around the beautiful living area, from the Persian rug on the hard wood floor to the old artifacts on pedestals and the wooden shelves of first additions. This blond was known as Malik Ishtar, a college student at the local community college, who was also known in some circles as 'Harley Quinn' the sidekick to the infamous villain called 'The Joker.'

"Do we have to run this like an official meeting now?" a twenty-six-year-old blond man with crazy purple eyes drawled out as he sat back in a plus leather armchair, eyeing the others up. He was wearing a simple business suit and looked to be a typical person, much like the others in the room. Professor Marik Yaminaka, specializing in history and known for his history textbooks, was the youngest of three blood brothers and known to the police and the papers as 'The Riddler,'

"First meeting of the Two-Face Union, eh green boy?" the twenty-seven-year-old man sneered with a glare at the older blond. His white hair was in spikes to his shoulders and his brown eyes looked to be rather bored, he wore jeans and a black t-shirt that had a white skull on the front and was leaning against the tinted windows that looked out over the city. This man is Bakura Yaminaka, the middle brother, who no one really knew what he did in his spare time but he was feared when he donned his alter ego as the infamous villain known as 'The Joker.'

"Are you still trying to get into your little gardener's pants?" Marik sneered as Bakura's eyes narrowed and he drew two blades from thin air and made to throw them when a blonde woman in a designer business suit with a short skirt entered the room and glared openly at them with her hands on her hips.

"Throw those knives and I'll sharpen my claws on both of your hides." She hissed out as both men froze, than Bakura slipped his two knives into the back pocket of his jeans and crossed his arms over his chest while Marik huffed and turned so he could not see his middle brother. Mai Kujaku was calm when it came to business and getting her way, when crossed she would usually make sure you never found a job in her circles or the city ever again. "We are here to discuss two major threats to our own territories and under the table business transactions." She added and sauntered into the area and draped herself over the loveseat that was across from Marik.

"I know of the one, White Dragon and his bumbling sidekick Black Dragon. Maybe that would be one-and-a-half." The final member of the meeting stated as attention turned to where he was lounging on the couch. His tri-colored hair stood up in spikes with blonde bangs framing his face, bringing out his sharp crimson eyes, and he wore a simple red dress shirt with black leather pants. Twenty-eight-year-old Atemu Yaminaka was the eldest of the blood brothers and he ran a small game shop in the city, inherited from the old man that had raised him and his two blood brothers, which gave him the privacy he needed to be the alibi for most of those present or to work out his own plans since he was Domino's mysterious villain called 'The Scarecrow.'

"The other would be this jackass that calls himself 'The Penguin.' He leaves cartoon caricatures at his scenes of the crime." Mai pointed out as Malik looked away from the display of a sparkly diamond necklace that had to be a reproduction from the movie _Moulin Rouge_ to where everyone was basically sitting.

"You mean the man that has defaced more artwork in the museum?" he asked as Mai sat up a bit to glance at him from over her shoulder. "What makes him a threat?"

"Something does not sit right about his focus." Mai pointed out with a pout as Bakura coughed into his hand.

"Sorry, dust." He wheezed out as Mai glared at him. "Anyways, Kitty might have a point. There has been some weird shit going on, every time a museum is hit something else is overlooked."

"Careful Marik, I think Batty is trying to steal your name." Atemu snickered as both Bakura and Marik glared at him and Mai looked pleased. "Seriously, we can't do shit about 'The Penguin' till we have an idea of what is going on and why he is pissing off the local historical societies and preservation groups. What about the Dueling Dragons?"

"Dueling Dragons?" Malik echoed with a snicker that, moments later, turned into hysterical laughter that took him to the ground.

"Makes sense, they argue enough." Bakura deadpanned, than ran a hand through his hair. "It wouldn't take much to take them out, obviously someone read too many superhero comics."

"Yet he kicked your ass." Marik pointed out with a grin as he turned his head to stare at the white haired man.

"Arrogance." Atemu muttered, but was ignored by all but a thoughtful Mai.

"Let's run this in the most logical way possible." Mai commented as she swung her legs over the side of the loveseat and got to her feet. "Find your smartest minions, the best of your ally networks, and let's begin to gather all we can on these two. Atemu, would you be able to go through everything?" she asked as the tri-color haired man looked thoughtful.

"If I can find a reliable person to watch the store, of course. Unfortunately I have had no luck finding that person." He told her as she frowned. "Just get the information to me, I'll get it done some how."

"Is that all?" Malik asked, having recovered from his laughing fit.

"Till the next meeting in two weeks." Mai stated as they all agreed to that and left the penthouse apartment.

* * *

**A/N:** I blame an "author's note" from my latest chapter of _Phantom Longing_. Anyways, this is just a little test to see if this has any chance of being a hit. Eventually I will write something that is purely YGO...


	2. 2: Searching

The old adage of 'one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor' described Yugi's state of mind two weeks later. It was after four in the afternoon on a Wednesday and he was presently sprawled out on the floor of his plain, Spartan room in a rumpled business suit with a half empty bottle of Devil's Tequila within reach. Between the fact that Kaiba had filled his schedule to the brim with things that the billionaire should be doing and the complaining and demands of his sidekick and ward Joey Wheeler, the poor retainer had no time for anything else. "Yugi!" a voice shouted as the slightly buzzed retainer glared at the brown haired maid in the door.

"Go away, I like watching the spinning ceiling and the garbled karaoke that are the voices in my head." He whined, raising a hand to shoo her away as she just stood in the doorway looking rather shocked. "No, damn it, can't let this get me now. Get me today's paper and tomorrow's paper, when it arrives, with some black coffee that can eat through metal."

"You are drunk." The maid deadpanned, ignoring his orders for the moment, as he sat up but cringed at the mistake he made by moving while bringing both hands to press against his temples. This, like all other times, failed to stave off the headache he got from moving while slightly intoxicated.

"I'm only buzzed. Besides that I have a reason because I am overworked, underpaid, under appreciated, and this was the only way to relax because it blurs my thoughts. This is also the only fun I can have without getting a stomach ulcer while giving a good reason why I cannot do anything else he is too lazy to do!" He growled out as she backed away. "Just get me the thrice damned paper and the coffee and accept my apologies but the tequila is talking and I have to listen."

"Of course." She muttered and scurried off to do so as Yugi just sat in the middle of the floor, trying to get the world to stop spinning around.

Nineteen-year-old Tea Gardner had been one of three maids that Kaiba kept, only because Yugi had persuaded him to keep some of the original staff due to the size of the manor. The brunette had been grateful, since she really did not want to deal with her deadbeat parents and what they would tell her, and went out of her way to help Yugi when she could. For the past few months she had watched as the loyal retainer gained more responsibility than he should have had and in the last three weeks she noted that Yugi seemed to be getting paler with rings beginning to show under her eyes. The young woman sighed as she tucked the newspaper under her arm and carefully carried the tray with the mug of coffee, a small pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar cubes through the dimly lit corridors to the room closest to master Kaiba's. "Yugi?" she asked nudging the door open and seen her friend sitting against the side of his bed staring up at the ceiling again

"Coffee?" he asked with a hopeful yet somewhat drunk look as she smiled and silently padded forward before she knelt by Yugi and sat the tray on his lap. He carefully picked the mug up and took a cautious sip, letting out a coo as she giggled.

"You wanted the classifieds, right?" she asked grabbing the paper from under her arm and unfolding it. As the first section, sports section, and business sections were thrown to the side she finally found the classifieds and silently read through the few job listings while ignoring the real estate and other ads. "There is an ad for a personal assistant to work for Industrial Illusions." She stated as Yugi glared at her from over the rim of his mug.

"From one over worked environment to another, but this one is worse because it is Master Kaiba's rival!" He pointed out with a shiver. He heard the rumors about CEO Maximillion Pegasus and the unique tastes he had developed after the death of his wife, after his mental breakdown and three-year vacation out of the public view. "I'd rather become a rice farmer in the rural area of China and live out the rest of my days in a back breaking, yet simplistic way in nature." He added and sipped his coffee as Tea frowned and looked down the listings, forgetting how picky Yugi could be when it came down to things he did.

"Male stripper, requires looking good in leather and adaptability. An open mind, flexibility, and a few kinks." She pointed out with a grin as he did not move and did not even glare at her. "I guess not, you would most likely break all the bones in the hand of the first woman or man that grabbed your butt."

"Damn straight." He muttered with a shiver as she grinned. It was so much fun to tease him, especially in his present state of mind.

"Customer service?" she asked as Yugi glared at her this time while sipping his coffee. "Right, too close to what you do now. Way too close and your voice would be better suited for a 900 number." She remarked as he nearly choked on his coffee and she went back to the list. "Oh! This next one is absolutely perfect!"

"Is it?" he drawled out, clearly a bit skeptical after the previous ads she read off, as she nodded.

"Wanted, competent and confident person that can stock shelves and run a small shop independently while manager is dealing with accumulated paperwork. Full-time, package includes holiday vacations and negotiable paid vacation days. " She read off as Yugi sat the mug back on the saucer and looked curious. "Call the Kame Game Shop for more information."

"Not high profile, probably low stress. Pay isn't a matter since I am a millionaire with everything I have saved up and gained from my parents and grandparents…" he trailed off as Tea sat the paper down to her side. "I bet you could get a job cooking with all your experience and I bet you do, considering the fact that you no longer live on the estate and how busy you are when you aren't working here."

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you." Tea stated with a sad smile as she wrapped her arms around Yugi, unsure of what he would say. "I went to a culinary academy to become a chef, finishing early since I had a head start because of you and the other chefs here with the fact that I love to cook, and work the breakfast shift at a four-star restaurant, I didn't want to quit because that would have left you all alone." He carefully brought his arms up and returned her hug.

"That last part is a lie, you knew I would be fine despite a lack of a true friend around here. Why did you stay here?" he asked as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"When you gave me that second chance you were more of a father figure to me than anyone I knew at that time. I thought you would be angry that I quit working here, despite what my logic told me." She muttered as he chuckled.

"I'm proud that you found what something you love to do and followed that dream and I hope you continue to follow that dream." He told her, moving his head so that he kissed her forehead. "I think I am sober enough to call and talk to the owner of the Kame Game Shop now as well as penning my formal resignation." She pulled back and grinned at him, despite the fact that she looked ready to cry out of happiness.

"You can stay with me! My place is big enough for two people and I would love to have a guinea pig to try my new dishes." She stated getting to her feet and rushing to find his cell phone as Yugi moved the tray from his lap to his side and watched her. For the first time in awhile he felt a bit lighter and a bit happier. "Here it is!" she crowed and rushed back to him, kneeling down as she handed him the cell phone.

* * *

Atemu had reluctantly closed the Kame Game Shop for the day as he began to organize the information that had been delivered to him before the sun rose. He sat back in his worn desk chair, cracking his neck as he tried to ignore the fact that his body was stiff from leaning over documents and pictures while trying to read between the lines, and glanced at the ornate clock that he had put above the door to his back office. He bit back a whimper when he realized that it was five in the afternoon, meaning he missed two meals and was probably on the way to being dehydrated.

He seriously wished he had a trustworthy minion or such that would not be afraid to force him to take care of himself. The last four minions he had, from simpering girls to kleptomaniac boys, were pathetic and lacked proper organization that would have kept his grandfather's shop in order while he was off causing trouble. For that reason alone he traded them all to Bakura, for a fate worse than death as he put them to doing tasks that were suicidal if they failed or if they succeeded, and put the ad in the paper. "Four women applies, but failed the intelligence impression. Five over the phone, who did not know of anything I asked them. Hell's bells." He muttered to himself, bringing both hands up to cover his eyes as a feeling of lethargy settled in his limbs.

Than the phone rang, causing him to jump since everything in the shop had been relatively silent. At the second ring he whimpered, not wanting to move too much. At the third ring he growled and picked the phone up and held it to his ear. "Kame Game shop, Atemu speaking." He stated in a rather exhausted tone, ignoring the few moments of silence.

_"Hello, I was calling in response to the ad I seen in the classifieds."_ A rather nice voice stated as Atemu sat up in his chair, his lethargy forgotten as he felt his heart beating a bit faster. The man had a nice voice, which was a plus, and sounded polite and patient.

"Of course. My name is Atemu Yaminaka, I am the owner of the store." He stated as the caller was silent again, obviously a bit awkward with the situation so Atemu decided to press on. "What is your background?"

_"I'm presently looking for another, less stressful job while employed but I will be writing my resignation today and tying up loose ends before I quit."_ The man answered before sighing. _"I apologize for my lack of manners, my name is Yugi Motou."_

"That is all right, Mr. Motou." Atemu stated as he mentally filed that name away for a background check, but he liked the sound of that name— Yugi. In his extensive travels, and from the sound of the last name, he assumed the other man was from a Japanese family since 'Yugi' was one of the many terms for 'game.' It was rather ironic, as well, since he was calling to apply for a job in a game shop, which meant that the man either did not realize it or did not really care. Dispelling those thoughts Atemu resolved to tease Yugi about that after he was hired and shown the ropes, assuming he would accept the job.

Wait, who was Atemu kidding? He was desperate for some sort of help as Yugi's voice was enough to make him think of something other than the information he would be processing.

_"I have been at my present job for close to ten years now and I am, well soon to be 'was,' a personal assistant to one of the wealthier businessmen of Domino City and, due to a triple workload and the man's lack of responsibility or pay raise, I am looking for a new job."_ Yugi further explained and Atemu could hear the exhaustion in the man's voice.

"That would be a serious pay cut, I can't match those benefits." Atemu commented with a frown. If Yugi was a personal assistant, than he had the experience required for the up keep of the game shop and of Atemu himself. This was a perfect chance that was slipping through his fingers quickly! At this point he was cursing his bad luck and the fact that it would blow his cover to offer…

_"My medical and dental are covered to my death, even if I leave the payroll, and money is not an issue to me. I will work for whatever you offer, so long as it is reasonable and either at or a little above minimum wage depending on what I will be required to do."_ Yugi answered, almost sounding like he was saying it to himself, but his statement was enough to bring Atemu's mental rant-turned-berating to a screeching halt, allowing his mind to catch up to what Yugi just told him.

"That works. Would you mind coming to the shop in the next day or two for an interview?" Atemu asked, keeping his voice sound normal while he mentally cheered at his good luck and fortune.

_"That would not be a problem, Mr. Yaminaka. What time is best for you?"_ Yugi asked as the store owner thought about it for a second.

"How about over breakfast tomorrow morning at the shop, say nine?" Atemu asked while Yugi hummed a bit in response.

_"That will work, but I will bring breakfast."_ Yugi stated with a chuckle as Atemu grinned, he was not going to argue against free food. After that they both bid one another farewell and Atemu hung up the phone, but stared at the device for a couple minutes.

He was not letting this golden chance slip through his fingers. Yugi Motou, soon-to-be former personal assistant to some high-class businessman, would be working at the Kame Game Shop whether he accepted or not.

* * *

**A/N:** I am a sucker for trying to be unpredictable, most of the time it fails. Anyways, as you can see Tea is not a total annoyance! It is a new attempt for me, but I assure everyone she will not be paired with anyone and will only make a few random appearances. If anything she is my reserve 'plot device' if I ever get stuck some place.

As far the casting, this is the reasoning I came up with to support why I did not make Yami the Batman character or Yugi the Robin character. (Besides the fact that there was more potential for the pairing of the two together if they were not working together as a heroic duo.)

**Seto Kaiba – Batman** (He's already a billionaire and has the personality to run both lives, sans the womanizing part but he has the hard ass part down to a science)  
**Joey Wheeler – Robin **(He just screams 'comedic sidekick' and is always around Kaiba, plus the bonus points of being a 'charity case')  
**Yugi Motou – Alfred **(He is not really a fighter, but not really in the background. Yugi never came off of as a fighter to me, but someone with a strong character and always there to help out.)  
**Marik – The Riddler **(After playing 'Lego Batman' I realized he should have been Mad Hatter. I liked Riddler better because one, demented leprechaun in look, and two, I can see him spouting off weird and lewd riddles to annoy and drive people nuts or manipulate them in that way.)  
**Mai – Catwoman **(She is a leather and diamonds kind of gal… plus the only female character in YGO that has the form and persona to pull it off.)  
**Bakura – The Joker **(He seems the type to play with knives and kill those that fail him, as well as dress in such a way to either freak a person out or make them underestimate him. No vat of chemicals but I can see him making Smilex and being in a lab to make more insane things. )  
**Malik – Harley Quinn **(Don't really know why… didn't think of him as being a main villain and a Joker always needs a Harley Quinn to do the leg work and she always seemed to be along for the ride and could switch sides at any time.)  
**Ryou – Poison Ivy **(Calm, seems like a plant lover and someone has to keep Bakura tied up when he's bad. Innuendo intended because a strong Ryou character works out better than an abused or extremely feminine one.)  
**Yami – The Scarecrow **(Two words: Mind Crush. Plus, he's always the hero… this way he is pretty much the leader of the villains and the best unknown rival for Kaiba!)

**EDIT**: 2010-April-09: A unsigned reviewer, marked as Unknown Person either by the system or by choice, questioned what I had down as the origin of the name "Yugi" and I looked into it to make sure that I was using the right information. Dummy me mixed up that part and I apologize to everyone for the false information and thank said reviewer for asking the question. Yugi (in true romanization of the Japanese word It may be seen as Yuugi) can be translated to meaning "game; amusement." The part I added also stated, ...Japanese family since 'Yugi' was one of the many terms for 'game'" which is true-- game (from Random House's Japanese to English, English to Japanese Dictionary by Seigo Nakao): asobi (pastime); shiai, kyoogi, geemu (match, contest); emono (hunted animal).


	3. 3: Leaving

**AN:** I would like to apologize to everyone who was reading this in the beginning for the long hiatus I took, I did not mean to drop off the grid like that and I do not believe in posting a chapter of Author Notes unless I have a good reason to, such as posting an opinion between two ideas or something to make it worth checking out. Sorry for hte short chapter for such a long wait, I hope to actually have another chapter up soon, if the inspiration hits.

* * *

The next morning an exhausted and rather dazed Atemu was pulled out of bed by the sound of the downstairs doorbell. He rolled from his messy bed and stumbled through the second floor living area and down to the shop, not even checking the time, as he yanked open the door to the Game Shop and was ready to tear into the fool that had dared to wake him up. Thankfully his anger cooled when he found himself face-to-face with a young man with piercing violet eyes. "Good morning, Mr. Yaminaka, I'm sorry if I drug you out of bed." He greeted in an even, yet amused, tone of voice as Atemu blankly stared for a few more moments.

"Yugi Motou, correct?" Atemu carefully asked as the young man nodded. The shop owner wanted to grin like a loon as he looked the young man over, noting that Yugi was rather attractive with his hair bound at the base of his neck and dark enough to bring out his sharp pale features and violet eyes. It also didn't help that he looked exquisite in his three-piece black suit and didn't even blink an eye at the fact that his next employer was only dressed in worn sweatpants and a tight black t-shirt. "I also brought breakfast, as promised." Yugi stated with a smile as he held up the plain white canvas bag he was carrying, valiantly keeping his own eyes on Atemu's face. "Home made breakfast at that, instead of picking it up at a café as I originally planned."

"You are a bit… wait a minute." Atemu began as he stood straight, his mind skipping over everything but the last thing Yugi said. "That definitely gives you a good leg up on being hired." He laughed and ushered the young man in, blatantly leering the bag he was carrying the starving man before his eyes drifted from the bag to other attributes. If the food was adequate, he was so hiring the young man on the spot with no questions asked and making sure he stayed. Being a villain with such a feared reputation he could do it, even if he asked for help. Shaking his head he quickly shut and locked the door again and turned to see Yugi looking over some games on the shelves.

"Your shop is rather cozy." Yugi commented as Atemu brushed past him heading towards the stairs at the back of the shop.

"A better atmosphere then those mass produced fools." He answered as Yugi fell into step behind him, ascending the stairs to the second level. "Most of our customers like the fact that they don't have to deal with large crowds and unhelpful employees, the 'family run business' aspect helps matters as well."

"I imagine so, families gravitate towards families… or so the political races tell everyone." Yugi mused as he slipped his shoes off, after entering the small living room that needed cleaned since it was rather cluttered and following Atemu into the combination kitchen-dining area and noted that the mold looked close to gaining some intelligence and forming an army.

"My grandfather used to live here and, while he may have been a highly paid and sought after archaeology professor, he loved a simple life and tried to pass that belief on to his children. Of the three of us, only I retained that belief." Atemu told Yugi, who carefully sat his canvas bag on the table and then cleaned off a chair to sit down on.

"It must have been interesting growing up with brothers." Yugi commented as Atemu pulled out two barely clean forks from the drawer and went to find plates and a mug. "I brought enough for you, I've been up for a few hours, and the thermos top is a cup." He told Atemu, who abandoned his search and sat down at the table, ignoring the stack of magazines on his chair, and watched as Yugi pulled the plastic container of food from the bag and sat it in front of him, popping the lid off to reveal waffles with scrambled eggs and sausages with two pieces of toast.

"Not really, they were a pain in the ass and still are." Atemu stated as he dug in like a starving man, making Yugi wonder if he had eaten in the last week. With a sigh the younger man pulled the metallic thermos from the bag and quickly undid the top and poured him a cup, which he snatched immediately. "This settles it, when can you start?"

"No talk of pay and the like?" Yugi asked arching an eyebrow as he sat back with arms crossed over his chest.

"I'll get down and kiss your feet if you keep things running around here smoothly and cook like this every day, pretty much offer you anything within reason." He declared, causing Yugi to blush just a bit at the praise, and sitting his fork down on a now empty plate and savoring his second cup of coffee.

"I have no place to stay, one of the things I needed to do today was scout out potential apartments in the area…" Yugi trailed off, frowning as several 'need to do' points ran through his mind, as Atemu smirked.

"I have an open room here." He slyly stated while sitting his coffee cup down, watching for a break in Yugi's indifferent facade. "If you are going to be doing some of the cleaning and cooking, I might as well offer you a room as a flat mate. Would save on a good bit of hassle as well as time you could be spending on other things."

"True, but I couldn't…" Yugi trailed off as Atemu waved him off.

"You can, it would be nice to finally have someone to talk to around here other then my angry cat and the walls. When do you want to move in?" he asked as Yugi just stared at him, jaw dropped a bit. To Atemu, this was a good sign because it meant he had a competent employee as well as someone he was interested in and the other wasn't as high maintenance as his previous relationships. "No idea? Tomorrow it is; shall I expect you no later than six in the evening?"

"I can call you before I arrive, if you wish." Yugi told him as Atemu nodded in agreement.

"Perfect!" Atemu gleefully declared clapping his hands and ushering a speechless Yugi from his shop while thanking him for the amazing breakfast, and told him that he will have everything ready for tomorrow. Tea would probably die laughing after hearing about this and he had no idea what he just did not protest getting involved in. With a sigh of defeat he made his way back towards his car when he remembered the other thing he had to do that day… "Now how the hell do I approach Mr. Kaiba about my resignation?" he asked himself, sitting in the driver's seat and staring ahead at nothing. The little voice in the back of his mind snorted and added the question, 'Did Mr. Kaiba even realize he signed off on my resignation two weeks ago?'

The answer to the question Yugi's subconscious asked was a resounding 'no.'

* * *

The next morning Yugi had woke up earlier than usual and packed his meager belongings into his car before he preformed his soon-to-be old morning routine. He ignored the comments from Joey Wheeler about breakfast finally being served, since both men were in Kaiba's bed, and sat the tray down over Kaiba's lap. "Mr. Kaiba, I do wish you luck on finding a new butler." Yugi stated as neither paid attention to him, to his eternal annoyance. "Today is my final day in your employ and I left instructions with the staff on how to split my duties until a new man can be found to fill my shoes. I programmed your PDA to alert you to your meetings and I left a copy of all the needed information with your secretary."

"Whatever, Motou." Kaiba grunted, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Off you go, man, make sure the car is ready for tonight's party!" Joey laughed as Yugi took in a deep breath and spun on his heel, letting it out slowly as he left the master bedroom for the final time and made his way to the foyer. Before he made the verbal announcement of his resignation he had been worried about abandoning someone that valued his hard work and dedication, now he was just annoyed and tired.

"Mr. Motou." A raspy voice stated as he paused at the entrance to the foyer and seen the staff lined up to send him off. "We will miss you around here and will try our best to help Mr. Kaiba out."

"I'm sorry I let you all down." Yugi admitted with a blush of embarrassment and a slight bow as one of the few maids suddenly rushed forward and hugged him, sobbing.

"You didn't let us down; you did all you could and deserve this." She told him, pulling back to frame his face with her hands. "Be happy, Yugi Motou, and live a life you were denied." With that she kissed his cheeks and backed away as he walked past the rest, head held high. As he opened the doors of the mansion for the final time, breathing in the fresh air, he felt the weight on his shoulders lessen. Stepping into the early morning sunlight and closing the heavy wooden doors behind him Yugi felt like he made the right decision and left the consequences to Mr. Kaiba. With a grin he lifted his head a bit and continued his trek to his reliable used car and decided that it had been the most liberating moment of his entire life.

As he slid into the driver's seat of his car, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the game shop. "Mr. Yaminaka, I will be there in an hour if that is all right." He stated and smiled as Atemu chuckled and told him something. "I'll start immediately after I settle in, thank you." With that he hung up, tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat, and set off to his new life.


	4. 4: Settling

It took Kaiba two weeks to realize that Yugi had actually quit, despite the numerous reminders by his now frazzled secretary who had long taken advantage the fact that Yugi took on some of the duties on top of his own responsibilities when it came to making sure Kaiba was ready for his meetings. During those frantic days the media picked up on the sudden break in the infamous KaibaCorp organization and efficiency and headlines made people edgy, more so when Kaiba finally released that his personal assistant and butler quit at the same time and he thought he could handle things himself. That appeased most and began a new sort of trouble— job interviews.

In those two weeks Yugi had settled in at the Kame Game Shop without any issue. The day after he moved in Atemu emerged from his bedroom, which also doubled as his back office that he used for all his villainous paperwork and analysis, and froze in shock. His entire living area had been cleaned till it sparkled, things organized, a kitchen found, and from the way it looked breakfast was being made. The rest of the day, and following weeks, were in a daze for the villain since he actually got at least two full meals a day that were not Chinese or Indian take-out and several sandwiches or snacks with tea or water. By time the next Villain Meeting was called, and it was decided to be held at the Game Shop since Atemu did not want to run the risk of losing his information in any freak accident.

He only had one major issue he had to take care of— getting Yugi out of the Game Shop till the next morning.

For the entire Friday into Saturday afternoon he sat in his combination bedroom-back office and tried to put together an ideal excuse, an iron clad quest, something or anything to keep Yugi away from knowing his secret. There was no way in hell he was going back to take-out and a messy home, that much as for sure. With a groan he sat back in his computer chair, hands over his eyes, and restrained the urge to hit his head off of the wall. "What am I going to say?" he whispered as his cell phone, sitting on top of a pile of freshly printed papers to the right of his black keyboard, began to play the ring tone he had programmed to identify Ryou when he called— _Midnight Garden_ by the female quartet Bond. "Please let Ryou have an answer for me, please." He pleaded, staring up at the ceiling for a few seconds before he answered.

_"Atemu, thank goodness you are in. I hate leaving voice mail."_ A calm and slightly accented tone of voice greeted with a sigh of relief. In Atemu's opinion Ryou was an oddly gentle villain most of the time, but when he got angry his over-protective poisonous and human eating plants would step in to eliminate the person or creature harassing him.

"What do you need, Mr. Green Thumb?" he asked with a grin, already thinking of how to spin his possible request to the other man.

_"I have decided to bow out of the meetings for the time being, since one of us has to be available to be a possible alibi and the like, therefore will not be attending any meetings. I have already arranged with Bakura to be kept into the loop."_ He informed Atemu, who was silent and grinning like a loon. _"Atemu?"_ he asked in concern after a few moments.

"Ryou, I have a favor to ask of you." Atemu stated seriously, inspecting the nails of his free hand for dirt. "Yugi, my new roommate and employee, needs to get out for a bit. Considering the time of the year, for you at least, could you use an extra hand at the greenhouse?" it was a perfect question because Ryou always needed help and never got any since those that always responded to his 'help wanted' ads ignored how the gardener ruled his domain.

_"Does this Yugi argue about how things are done?"_ Ryou sighed, obviously not happy with the request but not outright turning down the potential offer of help.

"Not that I have seen. He is a hard worker and trustworthy. I just want him to get out for a bit while we have the meeting." He answered as the other was silent this time.

_"You have no other excuse, do you?"_ Ryou dryly asked as Atemu nervously chuckled in answer. _"Send him over to the main house now, since the meeting begins in an hour. I will be expecting him but if he annoys me with talks of pesticides and all that I will feed him to my Gate Guardian."_

"I hope that doesn't happen, since I rather like him and his worth ethic." Atemu pouted and heard a click on the line, forcing him to pull the cell phone from his ear and seen that the call had been ended. "I love it when things work out." He purred and got to his feet to inform Yugi of the new development.

* * *

Bakura and Marik both froze in the doorway into the living room of the second floor living area of the Game Shop, jaws dropped as Mai pushed past them and sauntered over to the sofa and gracefully dropped onto the cushions. "Did you get so stressed and finally snapped and went on a domestic binge?" she drawled out as Atemu snorted and entered the living room from the corridor that led to the bedrooms and bathroom, carrying a packet of papers.

"No, my roommate and new employee cleaned up his first days on the job." He dryly retorted as Bakura darted into the kitchen, followed shortly by Marik.

"It is hard to believe that one of them is supposed to be a professional college professor." Mai sighed as Atemu shrugged and sat the papers down on the table to her right.

"Is this an actual homemade cheesecake, Atemu? Not the mass produced 'homemade cheesecake' knock offs at the corner store?" Bakura loudly asked as Mai's eyes lit up while the last brother slapped his forehead.

"No take-out going bad, well stocked, there is actually something to drink… did you finally breakdown and find yourself a clueless girlfriend?" Marik drawled out as her entered the room with a open container of cold, oven fried chicken that had been last night's dinner as Bakura brought in two pieces of cheesecake, one of which he gave to Mai who smirked and thanked him.

"I have a roommate and **he** is the one that cleans and **he** cooks since I asked him to take care of the shop while I finished up some of the more important 'business' matters." Atemu growled out as he crossed his arms and tried to glare them down, but the three just enjoyed the food that had been pilfered from the fridge. "Can we begin the meeting now so I can call Ryou and have… wait a minute, where is Malik?" he asked, switching gears before he gave away a little too much about his employee.

"His sister flew in from Egypt yesterday, he decided to take a backseat in this matter until she leaves since it wouldn't do him any good to get caught and hauled back to the land of sands and ancient history." Marik answered biting into a chicken leg and groaning. "I am so dropping in for dinner more often from now on." He vowed as Bakura snorted.

"You sent your employee to help Ryou? I thought you liked the poor boy." She accused Atemu, who grit his teeth together, sucked in a few tense yet deep breaths and exhaled.

"All that doesn't really pertain to the nature of our meeting aside, I looked over the information about The Penguin's so-called 'heists' and added the one or two defacing ordeals I seen in the paper over the course of the last two weeks." He announced, steering everyone back on to the topic at hand. "He has hit all the major museums that had their security upgraded in the last six months and only it seems that defacing the artworks and statues are the only mark of his presence."

"I sense a 'but' coming up." Marik muttered as he finished up the leftovers, sitting back with a content look while patting his stomach. "Your mysterious man needs to be introduced, since I think you did make a good catch."

"Agreed on both accounts." Mai added as she sat her now empty plate and fork on the table to her right. "Continue." She regally told him, sitting up straight as Bakura hummed, ignoring atemu's annoyed look.

"I went back through old newspaper clippings from The Penguin's first heists to his impromptu hiatus ten years ago." He informed them, watching as all attention turned to him and eyes narrowed. It was the same look he had when he decided to cover all of his bases and look into the old police and media reports, yet also the critical information that tipped him off to the fact that something was terribly wrong. "The Penguin never targeted museums or any place with large or heavy wares for the taking, his interest was always in the precious gems and metals. He went after jewelry stores, blood gems, anything that shines or shimmers since he was rumored to be an infamous jewelry fencer or counterfeiter."

"Did The Penguin you research ever leave a calling card?" Mai pressed while leaning forward as Atemu glanced way from them, staring out the darkened window on the wall across from him all the way in the kitchen.

"At the ritzier jewelry stores, ones that were suspected of trafficking blood gems. He would leave a white business card with a traditional black and white penguin wearing a top hat and monocle, usually in the cash register or safe." He told them as no one moved or even dared to let out a breath as Atemu finally looked back at them. "Got in contact with Dad and he said that The Penguin stole the heart of a jeweler, a woman that had been working late one night, and they eloped and moved to Europe ten years ago."

"Oh shit." Bakura whispered as he got to his feet. "The Penguin we have here is just…"

"A poser who is destroying who The Penguin really was and the public either doesn't know or doesn't care about whom they are dealing with. This means the new villain has another plan in mind and we haven't found the key piece to figuring out what exactly it is." Atemu stated in an exhausted tone, finishing Bakura's thought for him.

"It is time to scare the shit out of the low life thugs and gangs, they have to know something." Marik suggested as no one argued with him. "Shall we break up for another two weeks?"

* * *

Just as the meeting was beginning at the Game Shop, Yugi had arrived at the modest two-story house, located in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of the city, and parked his car in front of the two car garage. "I take it you are Yugi?" a slightly accented voice asked as the tri-color haired young man looked up when the porch light came on and a white haired young man clad in a dirt covered black t-shirt and khaki pants stood on the wooden porch that wrapped around the house.

"Ryou Iverson, I haven't seen you since high school!" Yugi declared in shock as Ryou stiffened and trotted down the front stairs of the porch and stood a few feet from him.

"My word, it is you Yugi! I wish Atemu had told me your full name." Ryou cheerfully greeted with a hug, which Yugi awkwardly returned. "When did you escape Kaiba's clutches? I thought you resigned yourself to being that man's eternal slave, especially after all those screaming matches with your grandfather."

"You could say it was the straw that broke the camel's back." Yugi answered as Ryou pulled away and then drug the young man up and into his house.

"You can tell me as we transplant, since I know you will not cause me any sort of trouble in my lovely domain." Ryou laughed as Yugi let himself be drug around, happy to finally reconnect with one of the few friends he had in high school despite what he had been forced to do for the sake of family tradition.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, to quote Yugioh Abridged by LittleKuriboh, "This show has a plot?!" Yes, I just attempted to inject foreshadowing to whatever plot that was vaguely hinted at. I went back and made a needed change to... Chapter 2, I believe, when an unsigned reviewer pointed out a flaw in the facts I put in about Yugi's name.


	5. 5: Reviving

Yugi forgot how much fun it was to work with Ryou during the spring planting season. They had spent the first three hours transplanting mundane, everyday plants in a plastic greenhouse under the overhanging lights and then Ryou decided that they needed a break and change of pace. That was when Yugi, who still remembered all the crazy hopes and dreams his white haired friend told him about during their public schooling days, was introduced to Ryou's private collection of plants. When he had first stepped into the glass and metal greenhouse Yugi had been awestruck by the exotic plants, the weird plants, and the beautiful flowers elegantly arranged to create a private garden that rivaled any botanical garden or place that he had been to. There was no doubt in Yugi's mind that he was being introduced to the only 'children' the botanist-turned-villain masquerading as a plant nursery owner would have. "Ryou, your children are beautiful." He whispered as the white haired man preened under the praise

"I forgot about that aspect of your teasing." Ryou admitted with a chuckle as he watched Yugi carefully make his way down the barely visible stone path, pausing occasionally to inspect a plant, or lightly caress a leave or petal in awe. It made the botanist-turned-villain smile at the child-like wonder on his old friend's face, a wonder that had been brow-beaten out of him by his father when they were barely in middle school. Ryou frowned at the thought of that man, who always reminded Yugi that 'the Kaiba family came before us since we owe them our lives' for something no one remembered.

"Amazing!" he heard Yugi breath and seen he was standing before a huge Venus Fly-Trap, which stood close to seven foot tall with its 'mouth' like petals three feet in diameter. He nearly ran forward, worried for Yugi's safety, but seen the man-eater was swaying as Yugi gently ran his fingers over its thick stem and under its petals.

"Yugi, will you stop seducing my dear Uther before he decides to take action?" Ryou weakly asked as the tri-color haired man drew back and bowed to the possibly pouting plant. "I take it when I need sap or such I should call you over and watch you seduce my children?"

"That sounds more disturbing then insinuating that I was seducing Uther here." Yugi sniffed as he blushed and kept staring at Uther, the Venus Fly-Trap, which struck a pose and ignored both of them. "I had a suspicion that you were Poison Ivy. Did you really fight while dressing as a woman in green and brown leather with brown hair?" he asked, turning to Ryou and noted that his jaw had dropped and he was pale.

"How did you know? Did you tell anyone?" he squeaked out as Yugi quirked an eyebrow and crossed his arms with a look that screamed 'you dare to ask me such a stupid question.'

"Black Dragon hit on you, did he not?" Yugi asked with a quirked eyebrow as Ryou nodded, still in shock. "Got a place where we can sit down and talk?"

"Of course, follow me please." Ryou offered with a weak smile and led Yugi to the far corner of the greenhouse, where a koi pond, lined with flat rocks, had been installed and a large willow tree had grown. "Now, explain how you know about that horrendously embarrassing moment." He demanded and watched as Yugi sat under the tree.

"I got to suffer through Black Dragon constantly blathering on about 'how that Ivy chick was so into him' and all that right down to the clichéd fantasies that make superhero movies look tame." He truthfully informed his old friend, closing his eyes and relaxing against the willow tree, wishing they were outside the greenhouse.

"Oh dear god, don't tell me I was being hit on by Kaiba!" Ryou nearly shrieked as he began to pace, trying not to glare at Yugi who snickered at his expense.

"Ryou, please think back to teenage obsessions. What did Kaiba favor above all else when it came to his things?" Yugi drawled out as Ryou froze and stood straight up, going through his memory for that.

"White Dragons and the color… oh bloody hell, you have got to be joking!" he told the former butler, who opened his eyes and stared up at the now frozen botanist-turned-villain. "Kaiba is 'White Dragon' and that would mean 'Black Dragon' would be…" he wracked his brain for a name, vaguely remembering the last encounter with the lecherous side-kick.

"You can deduce the name from the papers, considering the scandals that surround him." Yugi dryly clued him in, but Ryou didn't relax one bit. "Kaiba had this moment of 'I have money, so I can be above the rules' after his younger brother died and became White Dragon then he gained a side-kick and I gained a new headache."

"That explains the headlines about the sudden lack of organization in the company, how long have you been picking up that bastard's duties and responsibilities?" he asked, kneeling down in front of Yugi, now worried.

"Too freakin' long since I could have probably taken over KaibaCorp without anyone being the wiser or any resistance from the elite and that the board got used to answering to me about most things." Yugi admitted as Ryou suddenly leaned forward and hugged him. "I quit two weeks ago, with the help of tequila and a feeling that I was justified in my decision. For once I wanted my life back and since Father isn't here to be the asshole he was…"

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Ryou asked, pulling back with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Yes, and I will give you a heads up of when the time is right." Yugi admitted with a Cheshire Cat grin as the other threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

Another week passed after that, during which Yugi finally was introduced to Atemu's brothers and felt like he had met the two men before. Unfortunately for the ex-butler he also had a feeling that something was going on behind his back at the Game Shop, but again he couldn't put his finger on what exactly was going on. Eventually he dismissed the feeling, figuring it was better to be ignorant than it was to be nosy. It was on Friday that Ryou convinced, nearly blackmailed, Yugi to go out and do something fun since he was no longer bound to Kaiba and the ex-butler needed to remember how to laugh and have fun.

His exasperated agreement was 'heads up' enough to the now excited Ryou, who suspected that it would be a memorable night.

The Scarecrow, aka Atemu, found that out the hard way. That night he had donned his haunting visage, from the baggy and tattered clothing to his burlap mask with a crown of straw hair, hoping to find some thugs to interrogate or even someone from this false Penguin's gang. Instead he found himself perched on the low rooftop of a expensive jewelry shop watching something that could have been labeled a train wreck. The first thing he seen was a graceful figure in a black tuxedo, complete with tails and top hat, run into the street from an alley with a frustrated Black Dragon following. "Get back here, criminal, and return the jewels you stole!" the vigilante bellowed as the man stopped, pivoted and pulled a cane from under his coat and tripped the other.

At that time the alarm of the store Scarecrow was perched on went off and Catwoman, aka Mai, ran from the front entrance with White Dragon hot on her black leather stiletto heels. "The Diamond District is active tonight." Scarecrow muttered to himself as the man in the tuxedo circled around and grabbed Catwoman, who was running past him, and began to waltz around the street.

"You dare make a mockery of us, you criminals!" White Dragon gruffly bellowed as he moved to detain both, but the tuxedo clad man twirled Catwoman around and let her go mid spin and into a confused Black Dragon. He hit the ground again as she tried to regain her bearings, still swaying dangerously but staying on her feet. It was then the tuxedo clad man tipped his hat to her and turned to a shocked White Dragon and tossed something down in front of him.

"Wait!" Catwoman slurred out as the object the man threw exploded into a cloud of white smoke that quickly obscured White Dragon and the man. A moment later she patted her waist and hip area, where the belts that held the pouches she tucked her loot into, and pulled out a white business card instead of silver and gold with gems inlaid in it. "You damned thief! Get back here with my gems!" she added and drunkenly drew her whip but seen nothing to attack. She screeched in anger, turned and kicked the downed Black Dragon before stalking off while White Dragon was confused.

"What the hell just happened?" Scarecrow asked himself as he watched the two vigilantes stalk off, pride and egos bruised, leaving him alone to stare at the scene of the most bizarre escape he had ever witnessed. "Screw it, I need to spend some time with my friend Jack Daniels before making heads or tails of that." He muttered and left his perch in favor of someplace that made sense. "Can't drink alone either, maybe I should drop in and see what how Ryou and Yugi get along." He added as an afterthought with a smirk.

If he had stuck around longer, he would have seen a brown haired man in a red suit with white rabbit ears stepping from the shadows of a nearby alley. The man was frowning, obviously displeased with what he had witnessed, but nonetheless he slipped off into the night to warn his boss about the new development.

* * *

An hour and a half later a rather amused Ryou answered the door of his home after a series of eager knocks disturbed his reading, and the fact he was waiting for Yugi to get out of the shower so they could play cards. Opening the heavy wooden door he came face-to-face with Atemu standing, in jeans and a tight black t-shirt, holding a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and a rather fake smile. "Did you get into **_his_** 'Death by Laughter' stuff again?" he wearily asked, eyeballing the bottle with disdain but motioned Atemu to enter the house anyways.

"It has been a rather rough night. Actually that is an understatement because rough implies a bar brawl, but there was none, and really weird." He rambled off and collapsed on the couch, sending the white haired botanist's book crashing to the floor. "Where is Yugi? Don't tell me…"

"He is in the shower, got a bit messy when we were planting and I sent him off for a shower." Ryou assured him as the sound of someone coming down the stairs interrupted them and the white haired botanist was thankful for the timing.

"Your brother, Bakura, stopped by while we were getting ready to plant and decided to cause trouble. We ended up planting, while covered in mud, after he beat a retreat after some interesting death threats." Yugi chuckled as he came into view, wearing only a pair of dark green sweatpants with a towel draped around his shoulders, under his still damp hair.

"Whoa…" Atemu got out as he openly leered at Yugi while Ryou palmed his face.

"You may want to put a shirt on, Yugi dear, before Atemu decides to make a voyeur out of me." He dryly informed his friend, who quirked an eyebrow in question and pointed at the man on the couch and Yugi turned his attention to Atemu.

"I take it he is drunk?" Yugi asked and stalked towards the kitchen, ignoring Ryou's suggestion. The white haired man moved to stand beside Atemu and snapped his fingers in front of the other's face, but he did not come out of his stare.

"Don't mind Yugi, he's always been a bit oblivious to his effect on people when half dressed." Ryou assured his friend who looked up at him, startled. "We went to high school together, hence why I haven't driven him mad yet." Atemu said nothing about that, but filed the little bit of trivia away for the time being. "Also, if you are interested in him I will have to give you the 'break his heart and suffer' speech."

_Yes,_ Atemu thought as he opened the bottle of whiskey and gulped down a bit under the amused gaze of Ryou, _tonight is just plain weird. Maybe there was a full moon out…_

* * *

In the shadows of an abandoned restaurant, a meeting was taking place. A small group of men and women sat int eh dark room around two rectangular tables with their boss at the small round table. "Report." The man drawled out lazily, drumming his fingers on the table as the man with white rabbit ears stood up.

"White Dragon was on the move after Catwoman, following the trail of crumbs I left. There was an unknown variable in the plan to have her caught and dealt with." He told everyone, head bowed. "Instead of the woman being double teamed and cornered, Black Dragon went after a second villain that was out tonight and was led to the area by said man. He wore a tuxedo with a half mask depicting the top half of a King Penguin face."

"What?" the boss hissed out, everyone tensing up and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"He took care of Black Dragon, danced around the street with Catwoman, and then detonated a smoke bomb and made an escape with her loot." The man with rabbit ears quickly finished with a cringe, squeezing his eyes shut.

"After being silent for so long that annoying pest actually has the gull to return." The boss seethed as the other members waited for the right moment to bolt but the boss suddenly relaxed and chuckled. "This will work to our advantage, either way."

"Boss?" a woman asked while cringing as the man's attention turned to her.

"That pest stole something we need those years ago and now all we have to do is figure out who he or she is and retrieve it by any means necessary." The boss informed them, making it sound so simple. "Have our minions prepare a trap for our masked friend and make sure it is more subtle than that which we have for our stalking dragons." He ordered as all nodded a fled the room as the boss began to cackle manically

* * *

**A/N:** I want to try something so I have one question to those reading: who do you think is the antagonist of the story is? (Yu-gi-oh Character and the villain which they are suppose to be. Example: Atemu - Scarecrow.)


	6. 6: Discovering

_The Penguin Ordeal,_as the papers called the debut of the second Penguin, quickly faded into the background playing it off as a one time copycat and before any one in Domino City knew two dull weeks had passed. All activity, at least in concerns to the villains and usual small-time cutthroats criminals, hit an all time low that could not be explained by anyone but many veterans in the precincts were starting to get twitchy. They were waiting for the other show to drop, as it had many times in the past. The media briefly touched on that phenomena but it was quickly eclipsed and hidden away by the increasing troubles that KaibaCorp was having and the fact that CEO and multi-billionaire Seto Kaiba could not find a reliable secretary or personal assistant.

All in all, not that interesting.

"Police Commissioner Duke Devlin has turned the focus of the Domino City Police back to the typical criminals that plague everyday citizen in light of the sudden absence of the colorful, big name criminals. 'I hope to clean the streets of those that the well known criminals will recruit, hereby weakening their next attempt to scare Domino City into submission,' he told reporters during a press conference." Ryou read out loud to an amused Yugi, sitting at a private table in a small café close to the game shop. Both friends had gotten into a routine about spending lunch together, either catching up on old times or rekindling their friendship through friendly bantering, but in this case Ryou wanted a friend to accompany him on his scouting trip for his latest shopping trip sometime in the next few days.

The plant enthusiast was trying to figure out the best night to complete it.

"You have to admit that they are doing their best to avoid the threatening term of 'villain' all the while exalting Commissioner Devlin's unrealistic goals to appease public opinion." Yugi snorted sipping his English Breakfast tea, which Ryou had ordered and forced on him with a creepy smile that would have inspired the Joker take notes. "I remember an article, last year I think, that one of the Commissioner's critics pointed out that in order for the streets to be cleared the police have to stop thinking with high morals and self righteous attitudes and think like the criminals."

"True, but it is also hard to catch criminals when you work for criminals and around criminals within your own department. They can barely catch the dangerous serial killers and rapists, let alone the larger name villains that rarely kill anyone but cause millions in property damage. Even if they do they just send them to Duel Tower Asylum, where they eventually get bored and escape." Ryou snorted stirring his green tea, sitting back with a scowl. "Remember what happened in Tokyo a few years? It happened shortly after White Dragon's first appearance."

"I had nearly forgot about that, thank you for digging up repressed memories." Yugi pouted with a mock glare at his amused friend. "I had been attending a business conference in Mr. Kaiba's place in Tokyo, which means I had a front row seat to everything that happening that day." the former butler sharply informed Ryou, picking up a spoon and started jabbing it in his direction.

"Really?" Ryou hummed leaning forward, curious and eager for more details. Yugi rolled his eyes and would not admit, even under the threat of death, that he had a copy of that entire news edition hidden away in an undisclosed location.

"Yes, first time White Dragon appeared and squared off with Scarecrow and Joker. Everything went to hell in a hand basket, chaos reigned in the streets for a solid week, and I nearly wrung someone's neck for the sheer stupidity of having a fight with those two. In the end I forgot about physical violence, had about five shots of tequila and woke up two days later." Yugi dramatically sighed, slumping back in his chair. "Joker's antics nearly had me pushed over a railing by fat rich men and Scarecrow… I think I smashed a wine bottle into his head at some point in the chaos.

"You and your tequila stress therapy." Ryou snickered hailing down a waitress. Secretly he wanted to howl in laughter, remembering Yami's sputtered curses about the man that had hit him with a full, uncorked wine bottle.

"Yes, dearie?" she cheerfully asked, fluttering her eye lashes at Yugi ignoring a now glaring Ryou.

"Two orders of macha green tea with a double order of plum mochi." Ryou dryly informed her, ignoring the fact she was now pout since Yugi didn't respond to her silent flirting.

"Add a double order of red bean mochi as well." Yugi added with a polite smile, nodding to the woman.

"Right away!" she giggled and flounced off, an extra sway in her hips. Ryou snorted since Yugi didn't look away from him, even after finishing the last of his cappuccino.

"Still ignoring the female persuasion, I see." Ryou chuckled, which turned to out right laughter when Yugi cringed and pensively glanced out the window to his side.

"With good reason." Yugi grumbled turning back to Ryou, bowing his head in favor of rubbing his temples. "It seems we reluctantly parted ways a bit too early, or else you would have been the first to know about that clusterfuck of a plan my Grandfather made for my future…"

"Whatever this is must be troublesome." Ryou hummed sipping his tea. Yugi waited a moment or three before his friend sat his cup down and clapped his hands over his mouth, eyes wide. The former butler smirked, sitting back in his chair and brushed an errant strand of golden blonde hair from his eyes, and Ryou finally forced himself to swallow his tea and let his now shaking hands slowly drift down from his mouth. "He actually expected you to accept that plan once he died?"

"Yugi, darling!" a shrill voice cried happily out of no where.

"This is my Grandfather we are talking about." Yugi deadpanned sitting straight up in time for a blue haired woman to practically sit in his lap. He barely dodged her attempts to kiss him, while batting her hands away from his face, looking rather annoyed.

"Ryou, I think I am being sexually assaulted." Yugi calmly told his gawking, wide eyed friend. The white haired botanist shook off his shock and scowled at the woman interrupting their quiet luncheon.

"Detective Vivian Wong, I hardly think it is becoming of someone of your profession to just toss yourself at an unsuspecting man." Ryou coolly informed the woman, clasping his hands on the table looking every bit the proper English gentleman. The glaring waitress decided this was a good time to return with a tray that had two plates of mochi and two cups of green tea.

"I am only greeting my…" Vivian trailed off running a hand through a resisting Yugi's hair, who continued to glare and bat her wandering hands away.

"I am your nothing, you harpy." Yugi hissed out scooting his chair back and getting to his feet, rudely dumping the now pouting detective on to the tiled floor. "You truly do not understand the meaning of the word 'no' do you?"

"You are my true love! Your grandfather even agreed when he wrote up the marriage contract!" Vivian pouted getting to her feet, standing toe-to-toe with Yugi with hands on her hips. "It is binding and you are my fiancée."

"My grandfather was delusional and loyal to a bad fault, even the lawyer I kept on retainer for a good many years after his death ruled all of the agreements he made concerning me to be invalid since he was out of touch with reality and could not even take care of himself. On that note he is also dead and I am free to live as I wish to, in this case that clearly is for you to leave me alone." he bluntly informed her brushing some imaginary dust from his slacks and sitting down again and carefully picking up a piece of red bean mochi. "Thank you, ma'am, and I apologize for the scene."

"N-no trouble." the waitress squeaked out and shuffled away from the scene, blushing a bit.

"I don't care, you are my fiancée no matter your protest." the detective hissed out attempting to glare down at Yugi, who was not paying any attention to her.

"You must be really desperate, Detective." Ryou snickered picking up a piece of plum mochi, Yugi started his second, this time stealing a piece of plum mochi. Vivian huffed and glared at Ryou, opening her mouth to retort.

"Detective Wong, why is it every time we meet you are harassing someone?" the smooth, dark voice of Bakura purred sauntering towards them in his sharp black business suit, long white hair pulled back at the nape of his neck with his bangs framing his angular face. Both former butler and botanist swore the man had appeared from thin air, since they had not seen him enter the diner. Then again both were too busy gawking at his oddly clean, professional appearance and really wondered what he had been up to that morning.

"You look good in a suit." Ryou finally complimented him with a leer. Bakura preened and brushed a hand through his lover's hair with a grin. "Really, really devilish."

"You can figure out how devilish later, my dear." Bakura purred leaning down, yanking his lover's head back and roughly kissing him. Vivian was staring in disgust with her lips twisting into a sneer and her previous comment dead on her lips. Yugi rolled his eyes but had the decently to look away, giving the couple an illusion of a private moment despite the attention of all others in the diner. Vivian eventually stormed away, promising to return and convince 'her' Yugi to go on a date with her.

"I doubt that detective." a breathless Bakura informed her with a smug smirk. "If I had to guess Yugi's type, I'd say you have a snowballs chance in hell." he drawled out glancing at the blushing waitress clutching her tray for dear life by the bar before sitting down beside his lover, one hand resting on the botanist's upper thigh.

"How much did you hear?" Yugi sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, hoping his face wasn't beat red in embarrassment.

"All of it. That is one hell of a delusional, persistent, nutcase woman to have on your tail." Bakura chuckled picking up a piece of red bean mochi, and popping it into his mouth. "What's the true back story behind that? Obsession doesn't begin with a contract, usually bitterness and hate does."

"No real story. Her obsession began in my high school freshman year and, unfortunately, time made it worse since her parents were friends with Kaiba's parents before the tragedy and both him and her continued to be cool acquaintances." Yugi admitted without opening his eyes or lifting his head, his tone weary. "After my Grandfather destroyed all my attempts to break off and have my own life, she started to visit more and more until I threatened to have her fired from the police force for sexual harassment and stalking. As you seen since she is under the delusion that we are to be married once I retired from being the Kaiba family butler, which is a job that has… was… handed down in my family from generation to generation."

"You have a few options, one of which includes moving to Tibet and becoming a celibate monk." Ryou snickered glancing out of the corner of his eye at a shocked Bakura. Yugi took in a deep breath and finally opened his eyes, picked up another piece of red bean mochi. "Oh, that's right I forgot to tell you where Yugi used to work. He took over for his grandfather, Solomon Motou, as Seto Kaiba's butler at age seventeen and just recently managed to get up the nerve to quit."

"The things a person can realize after half a bottle of tequila." Yugi wryly laughed pushing the remaining plate of mochi in front o him towards Bakura,. "Best thing I ever did, a pity it happened now and not seven years earlier."

"Yeah, to was a crying shame when I couldn't get the police to actually charge your grandfather with negligence and kidnapping." Ryou growled poking the last mochi on his plate with an angry look. "He had no right to drag you off like he did when you tried to run away when we were teens."

"Run away?" Bakura echoed, looking truly interested in the fidgeting man across from him. He knew Kaiba had a butler, but never once thought that said man would be in his prime and not in his sixties.

"Solomon claimed to be my only living relative, seeing how my parents abandoned me. I told him that I wanted to be an artist or just a traveler, hell I would have been happy in the military or working on cars for a living! He wasn't happy with that and I ran away one day, he broke down the door of Ryou's parents house and drug me out. Luckily his brainwashing was terrible and his fanatical loyalty made him gullible."

No, Yugi wasn't bitter at all. Bakura could practically taste the hate dripping off of those words and made a mental note to research the Motou family and warn Yami about his employee's past. 'Shouldn't be too bad, just means he won't betray us to his former employer.' he thought finishing off the red bean mochi without question.

A sudden chill passed over the three, which was odd given the fact that it was mid-summer and the diner was kept at a cool yet comfortable temperature. "Anyone else feel a sudden chill?" Ryou shivered rubbing his bare arms.

"That isn't a good thing." Yugi snorted, frowning when he realized that it was cold enough to see his own breath crystallize. A explosion shook the foundations of the café, resulting in many of the patrons hitting the ground and huddling under their tables for protection. Bakura and Ryou both calmly got to their feet, acting like the explosion had not even happened. Yugi coughed and dug a couple twenty notes from his pocket and tossed them on to the table before he got to his feet.

"You two stay here." Bakura ordered glaring at his lover, barely sparing Yugi a glance.

"Couch, two months?" Ryou sweetly asked, blinking innocent puppy dog brown eyes at his lover. Yugi rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation at their antics and made a beeline for the front door. The scrambled to follow, Bakura realizing that this was a battle he would not win no matter how much logic he dared inject into the situation. "Besides, Yugi needs to have a little fun! Trust me?" he asked with a pout.

"Seriously?" Bakura demanded pausing long enough to eye his lover with something akin to weariness and curiosity.

"Lover, do you remember all those rants about mind fucking your dear brother Yami?" Ryou cooed wrapping his arms around the still weary and curious man. "Trust me, this will put a smile on your face."

* * *

It was later that night and Yami was a bit worried about the fact that Yugi had yet to return from his lunch break with Ryou, which had obvious become an ordeal from what the annoying reporters on the news kept on harping about. He spent a good six hours on pins and needles waiting for Yugi or Ryou to call, if only to tell him they were safe and sound. He jumped when the door to the living room was slammed open a slightly damp and amused Yugi entered followed by a giggling Ryou and smirking Bakura.

"What the hell happened to you three?" Yami demanded getting to his feet, checking Yugi over for injuries, forgetting that he was also slightly worried about Ryou's safety and completely ignoring his brother.

"Are you done groping your employee, brother dear?" Bakura cackled hugging Ryou, who buried his face in his older lover's neck to hide his amusement. Yami paused to glare at his brother, Yugi rolled his eyes and slipped into the kitchen area to make some tea.

"What the hell happened out there?" Yami demanded crossing his arms, staring down the amused couple.

"Nothing much, just getting to know my brother's highly talented employee. Ryou suggested we do a bit of bonding, beyond when I show up for dinner." Yami looked a bit skeptical of the answer. "Yugi, I'll tell you when our next billiard game is." he called out still grinning, inwardly cackling at Yami's pale look.

"I have no choice, do I?"

Bakura's cackle caused everyone to flinch.

* * *

At the same time, Police Commissioner Duke Devlin ignored the presence of the two vigilantes in spandex and Kevlar in favor of staring at the odd scene before him. The Dr. Dartz Freeze, or Mr. Freeze the newest of the Domino City villains who had just blown in from a far north island, had been stripped of his high tech protective armor and diamond run weapons, which laid strewn about the street in bad condition. That wasn't the issue, it was the fact that the man was tied to a lamppost with Poison Ivy's signature vines.

That was just a part of it.

The man was gagged by several bright handkerchiefs knotted together, looking very bit like the ones The Joker carried around, wearing a pair of obscenely bright pink boxers with The Joker's signature face messily painted on scrawny pale chest. A joker card was sticking out of the waist band of his pink boxers with a plain yellow post-it note super glued to his forehead, 'TO: Domino PD, White Dragon. SUBJECT: Response Time. A little late, aren't you?' Many that picked up his armor found that all of the diamonds had been fueling the man's armor and weapons had been taken and a neatly rolled Ace of Spades left instead.

"A bit arrogant of them." White Dragon sneered after reading the note, ignoring the glaring and gagged man.

"Territorial maybe." Duke dryly pointed out to the vigilante. "I don't understand, Mr. Freeze is as well known in the north as Poison Ivy and Joker are in police circles all over the country. Why would they go after Mr. Freeze and not this unknown?" he asked holding up the card.


	7. 7: Kissing

Scarecrow knew one thing for sure, after the night he was having, and that was the fact he was confused.

Which was still understating the obvious.

The night began simple enough, investigating a few places that had been hit in the recent crime spree that made the papers with The Penguin, both of those characters, laying low. Then, out of sheer boredom, he had given up on finding any viable evidence in favor of reminding people that he was still someone to be feared and set out to attack a fundraiser for the Mayor's latest 'Beautify Domino' being held in the Domino City Central Park.

At the same time that The Penguin, the more recent one and not the woman that had a merry dance with Catwoman, decided to crash the same party. With minions. Thug-like minions looking uncomfortable in their tuxedos carrying mini-uzis, automatic rifles, and wearing horrible Penguin looking masks.

The Penguin had ordered his minions to deal with Scarecrow, which they took to with unholy glee if the laughter had been anything to go off of. The Mayor was panicking and issuing empty threats, Commissioner Devlin had covertly called for back-up, people were screaming and running around like chickens without heads, The Penguin stood tall and arrogant throughout the entire ordeal… In the middle of the fight The Penguin found himself in close combat with a second, slightly shorter and more stoic Penguin that had danced with Catwoman.

Scarecrow remembered the confusion that had brought on those remaining, including the minions.

It was no small wonder why! The second Penguin may have the demeanor of a gentleman but he fought like a a man possessed. The first Penguin could barely keep himself on balance under the onslaught of punches, forcing the taller man to carefully back towards the fountain. When in distance of the fountain a simple kick, catching the taller man in the chest, had been landed and sent the taller man stumbling back only to trip over the low ledge of the fountain and fall into it. Humiliated was an accurate way to describe the fight. More so when the minions went after the second Penguin and found themselves facing blade, not even thinking about using their automatic weapons.

Scarecrow had picked up the nearest weapon from the unconscious body of a minion, now curious why the minions hadn't used them on him. The weight was odd, the feel... pulling it apart he discovered that it was a realistic wood and metal replica. A show piece.

Half the minions that had rushed the second Penguin now lay on the ground, knocked out. The Commissioner, and some formal uniform dressed officers, now drew very real handguns on them. Police sirens got closer only for the remaining minions and first Penguin to retreat, using smoke bombs, leaving the other Penguin and Scarecrow holding the ball, so to speak. The Second Penguin had grabbed Scarecrow's wrist and pulled him along into the shadows when the police cars stopped and a pursuit on foot began. Nothing had been said, no feet being drug, and both understood that they had to trust the other… for now anyways.

Those same sirens followed and Scarecrow figured that road blocks were being set up and wondered what The Penguin would do now. That moment was when he found himself tugged into the foyer of one of the older, more ritzy buildings with people milling around in costumes. The Penguin pushed him into a shadowy corner of the room, before any could spot them, and began going through his pockets.

That was how he lost his burlap mask for a silk domino mask, how the other gave up his top hat and monocle for a delicate Phantom of the Opera mask, and they snuck into the Gala with the help of a large donation to whatever the fundraiser had been for by his odd companion. They didn't get away for free, a police officer spotted them and called for back-up.

It was chaotic after that and eventually they were both on the stage of the Masquerade Gala, in front of a crowd with numerous flashes from cameras, without the safety of his traditional burlap mask but a simple black domino mask and his straw blonde wig kissing The Penguin. Many were clapping, the police had shouted something and immediately there was a fury of noise as people were protesting whatever was said but the Scarecrow didn't hear anything but the beating of his own heart.

Staring into those dark eyes, Scarecrow wondered why The Penguin felt so familiar to him.

The shouting got a bit louder and Scarecrow leaned down and initiated the next kiss, cupping the other man's face in his gloved hands. When they parted again all the focus was on the police officers and a woman wearing an elaborate and showy peacock costume ushered them off of the stage and behind the curtains. "Go! Be happy, we will deal with these ruffians." she whispered bustling back on to the stage.

Penguin blinked and stared up at Scarecrow and blushed. They immediately pulled away from the other and went their separate ways.

_'Oh dear god, what will the papers have to say about this?'_ Scarecrow thought pulling his burlap mask back on and slipping into a back alley, hearing only the typical sounds of the city. _'Goddamn it! I just kissed The Penguin, the real Penguin, when I should be kissing Yugi!'_he scowled at that thought, coming to a complete stop.

"Look at this freak." a raspy voice laughed and he turned and glared at the malicious gang members that he had passed in his distraction.

"Your suffering will be epic." he intoned smugly. Pushing all thoughts of the night from his mind he focused on venting his anger and annoyance on the idiots that interrupted said thoughts.

* * *

The incident with the Mayor did make the news, just based on the location and the sheer chaos cause, as did the incident at the Masquerade Gala, which had been a fundraiser for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Community. He had two pictures on the front page, which was a new record for the Union- one as Scarecrow fighting The Penguin's minions and one of him kissing the other Penguin in a domino mask. Bakur and Marik were sure to have a field day with that entire ordeal.

Brothers were evil like that.

Most of the article about the Mayor's crashed fundraiser had been speculation about the absence of the Dueling Dragons and a now steady rise in crime. The other article about the LGBT Gala was about the discrimination of the police force with the accusations made against a couple that donated 'close to seventy-thousand dollars' to their fund to renovate a small office building to set up shop.

_'Screw that, the entire Union will be teasing me for years to come.'_Yami mentally whimpered sitting on the foot of his bed with his head in his hands. Why did he have to kiss that man a second time? Why did he feel something for someone that no one knew anything about? Why?

"Yami?" he heard Yugi asked through the door of his room, the other man sounding concerned. The door was slowly opened and Yugi popped his head in, frowning. "I brought lunch, since you seem to be avoiding the main areas today." with that he stepped in and sat the simple tray on top of his messy table.

"Thank you." Yami sighed, staring at the floor trying to will the other man to leave before he did something they may both regret. He didn't realize Yugi had knelt in front of him until the other man gripped his hand, jerking Yami's attention to those concerned violet eyes.

He seen dark eyes in his mind, that both Penguin and Yugi had the same shape eyes.

"You look like you haven't slept in awhile." the other whispered brushing his other hand through Yami's unruly hair.

Taking a deep breath Yami decided that it was now or never. Pulling Yugi up, ignoring the squawk of surprise, he wrapped his arms around Yugi's shoulders and pressed a kiss to his lips. Drawing away Yami waited for the rejection, the disgust…

"Here I was thinking I'd have to walk around naked before you showed any sort of interest." Yugi commented with a brilliant blush.

A blush that vague reminded him of…

_'Put that man from mind!'_Yami ordered himself carefully maneuvering himself back on to the bed, Yugi following his movements, so that they lay in the others arms felling comfortable and content.

Relaxing Yami let his mind drift back to the detailed map of Domino City, which he hung on the wall at the back of his small closet shortly after Yugi moved in, that was littered with different color pins and framed by cut out news paper articles on the crimes.

It made absolutely no sense yet everything was connected.

In the last week a prominent art museum had been broken into, which made the papers as hooligans causing anarchy by destroying the talented works of Domino City residents. He had donned his Scarecrow façade and investigated the museum the night after the break in and discovered that vintage Victorian Era clothing stolen from an exhibit on fashion, but an exhibit on glasswork had been completely destroyed and an exhibit on modern art defaced with spray paint. During his investigation of the art museum, a team of thieves stole an antique mahogany meeting table from one of the many upper-crust houses in the richest residential district with all the valuables that wasn't locked away at the same time some common thugs robbed a five star restaurant taking three cases of the most expensive white and red wine with all the money and valuables of the patrons. Black Dragon had shown up at the latter and only managed to retrieve the patrons possessions. There were more crimes after that masking stolen goods - bone fans, hair accessories, ancient Chinese bone china, precious gems- all covered up by vandalism.

Like in the previous months, but only on a more accelerated time scale.

His thoughts were interrupted by a poke to the ribs.

"You still need to eat lunch." Yugi reminded him, pouting.

* * *

Neither realized that they had company in the form of Ryou, Bakura, and Marik. The last two having decided to visit after seeing the day's headlines, the former out of curiosity. "It looks like our brother may finally get laid." Marik muttered with an insane grin.

"Yugi's former job of a butler does make him a well qualified housewife for our dear Yami." Bakura hummed inspecting his nails. Ryou turned to face both, arms crossed and eyebrow arched in question.

"Humming. What evil are you plotting?" Ryou demanded of his lover, completely ignoring a very amused Marik.

"Think we could get Yugi in a wedding dress?" Bakura innocently asked, looking away like a child with his hand stuck in the cookie jar.

"Isn't that a bit soon?" the botanist deadpanned, still glaring at his lover.

"Yugi has to contend with this second Penguin character. Those two shared a rather hot kiss at that Gala last night." Marik pointed out with a thoughtful expression. "Also, how will Yugi take knowing our secrets?"

Ryou had to hold himself back from laughing. _'If only they knew Yugi as well as I do.'_he thought maintaining his outward, disapproving demeanor.

"He took well to helping us humiliate Mr. Freeze." Bakura shrugged shoving his hands into his pockets. "Let's head out to lunch since those two are wrapped up in one another for Yugi to feed us."


End file.
